Electric-sign structure.



A. W. GAST.

ELECTRIC SIGN STRUCTURE.

APPLICATION man ocT.1o,1911.

Patentedlan. 25, 1916.

Imm a L'Icaeaa DO] ra r AJDoLrH GAST, or 4c-I'Ircacsfo, ILLI'NoIs, AssIGNoR To ourense MINIATURE Lm wenns, or cnrcaeo, rLLINoIs, A CORPORATION or ILLINOIS.

Y ELECTRIC-SIGN sTRUcTUItE.

To all whom 'z't may concern.' Y *f Be it lmownthat I, Anoirn W. GAST, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric-Sign Structures; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in electrically illuminated sign structures and consists of the matters hereinafter described and more particularly pointed out in the ap- 'pended claims. v

The primary object of the invention is to provide a sign structure including a plurality of electrically illuminated lettersl or designs and when required, one or more suitable spacing blocks, and a supporting member, each letter. design or spacing block coni sti'tuting a lmit, and each unit being not only removably engaged on said supporting member but being separably engaged with the adjacent imits on said supporting member. The several units have their bases so constructed with reference to the supporting member that when said bases are engaged with said supporting member thev letters or designs on said bases will assume,` the desired, (usually upright) position, and when spacing block units are required, the neces` sary spaced relation between the letters or Ldesigns of said units. f

Another object of the invention is to provide a base for units of the kind described, that'is to say letters, designs, or spacing blocks, which consists of tworor more parts of insulating material to one of which thev letter or design of the unit isfxed and in the adjacent faces of which are provided passageways to receive the electric conduc-` The bases of the unitsA are made of designs and the like, and are severally provided with sockets at one end and with projecting tongues at the other end whereby 'the bases may be held in assembled relation and the conduct-ors therein in proper electrical connection. y

In the accompanyingdrawings: Figure 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the invent-ion shown assembled. Fig. 2 is a section through Fig. 1 approximately on Specification of Letters latent.

Fig. 2 approximately on line 3 3.- Fig. 4

,y y A i Patented Jan. 25, 191e.4 Application mea catcher 10,1911. seria1 No.e53,859.

the line 2 2. Fig. 3 is a-section through 1s a section through Fig. 2 en the line Fig. 5 is a detail fragmentary perspective vlew of a letter and base, the parts of the base being shown separated. for the purpose of illustration. Fig. 6 isa detail perspective view of one of the conductors arranged in each of the bases and Ieach of the spacing blocks. Fig. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view Vthrough Fig. 5 on line 7 7. gigs. 8 is a section through Fig. 5 on line The present invention embraces generically a structure embodying a plurality of lamp and letter units, each formed with a base, preferably rectangular, and having connectors therein, and a supportingstructure in the form of a channeled member,

' the connectors of one unit engaging the con-` nectors of an adjacent unit.

Referring now to that `embodiment of my invention illustrated in 'the Vaccompanying drawings, 1 indicates a supporting member for the series of units comprising the sign structure. In the drawing there are shown, only two letters, namely, H and I, but it will be evident that as many letters may be used as may be desired, and any arrangement thereof may be had as occasion may demand. `'Each letter is mounted on a base, the two together constituting a unit.

2 indicates the base of the-letter H and 3 the base ofthe letter I. Each base is of such length as to provide equal extensions of the base at each side of each letten, so that when the units are assembled, the letters will all be equally spaced apart. The

support 1 is, as shown, 1n the form of a trough. and ofvsuch cross-section as to receive and retain the bases. The bases are of Uidentical construction and each comprises,

as shown herein, upper and lower plates or blocks 4 and 5, respectively, of insulating material, such as porcelain or the like (see Fig. 5,). To the upper plate 4 is attached the letter, character or design.- IVhere the letter has more than one bottom end, as for example, in the case of the letter H, one of said ends is mounted in a recess or depression-formed in the top of the upper plate 4',

as shown in Fig. 7. The other end rests on the top surface ofl said plate 4 and if desired may be cemented thereto.

, 6l and 7 indicate current supply wires for lvide tonfrues or pluOs 17 and 18.

the letter. Said Wires extend through suitable vertical passagevvavs formed in thelupper plate 1 in line with and opening into the depression or recess on the top of said plate. The said passagevvays are filled v vith plaster of Paris or other suitable material which merges with a conductor protecting member 8 provided on the back of the letter.

The construction disclosed in Figs. 7 and 8 is important as the same not only provides means for accommodating the Wires 6 and 7, but also provides means b v which the letter is anchored to the plate 1. The anchored end of the letter has a depending lug 11 vvith lateraly extending ears l1 vvh'ich are firmly secured in the plaster of Paris or other cement filling 1 in the recess or depression in the plate 1. If desired, suitable sockets 1 may be provided in the sidewalls of the recess or depression in the top of the plate for positiveljvY holdingthe cement 1 in place and preventing relative movement betvveen the letter and base; It will also be observed that by the arrangement of the cement filling 1 described and of the protecting member 8 on the back of the letter. said letter is firmly braced in position'. as the protecting member 8 merges with and forms part of the filling 1" so that the same acts to protect and inclose the vvires 6 and 7 and at the same time forms a brace and retaining means for the letter. j

The vvires 6 and 7 are connected to current conducting members 11 and 12 respectively vvhich consist of fiat, narrovv parallel stripslocated in longitudinal grooves or channels 15 and 16 formed in the top of the lovver plate 5 of the base. The vvire 6 is connected to the current conducting member 11 b v means of a nut and screw 9 and 10 which also serve to secure the said conducting member 11 in its channel. A nut and screvv 13 and 11 perform like functions in connection vvith the vvire 7 and the conducting member 12.

The conducting members 11 and 12 eX- tend substantially the length of the plates 1 and 5 and inaddition project bevond said plates formingthe base at one end to pro- The opposite ends of said conducting members are bent downwardlyY into depressions 19 formed in the bottoms of the grooves or channels 15 and 16. The bent-dovvn ends of said conducting members 11 and 12 coact with short bent conducting strips 20 and 21 to form sockets 22 and 23 adapted to receive the plugs or tongues 17 and 18 of the adjacent unit. Said short strips 2O and 21 are secured in place by screvvs and nuts 21 and 25 which also serve to attach the conducting members 11 and 12 to the lower plate 5 of.

the base. The upper plate 1 has on its bottom side a depending rib 26 which ts between the outer Walls 28, 29 of the channels n i or grooves 15, 16 and bears upon the intermediate vvall 27 separating said channels or grooves, which intermediate Wall as shown (see Fig. 1) is of less height than said outer vvalls. The` upper and lower plates are attached together b v a bolt and nut 30, 31, the

nut being preferably countersunk in the top as heretofore described Without the attached letter and without the depression or recess and wires 6 and 7 required in the case of the letter-base. In addition to the spacing block, I provide an end block 31. This block is similar in construction to the spacing block 33 but While it has sockets 22, 23, like the sockets 22, 23, it has no tongues like the tongues 17 and 18. Instead of said tongues, line wires 35, 36 are attached to the conducting members of said end `block by bolts and nuts 37, 38. Said Wires extend through a sleeve 39 of insulating material fixed in a plate 31 forming the end Wall of the channel support 1, screws 11, 11, securing said plate in proper position. A thumb screvv 10 retains said bushing in Said end plate. lhen assembling the sign structure, the end block 31 is placed in the lefthand end of the supporting member 1 adjacent the end plate 31a and is rigidly held therein b v any desired means. as, for instance, by the bolts 11. plished the various letters and spacing blocks are then inserted and the respective plugs 17 and 18 caused to engage the respective sockets 22 and 23. Should it be desired to change the particular wording or After this has been accomarrangement of letters, the letters may be removed and rearranged as desired, by an unsk1lled person, as all there 1s to be done 1s to pull the sign units apart and then reassemble the units in the desired sequence.

IVhat I claim is- 1. A sign structure, comprising a support` be brought into abuttting engagement when the terminals of adjacent units are interengaged.

2. The combination of a plurality of lamp and letter units, each formed with a rectangular base and having connectors therein, with a supporting structure in the form of a channeled member, the connectors of one unit engaging with the connectors of an adjacent unit.

3. An electric sign comprising a hollow, trough-like support, a plurality of separately formed electrically illuminated letters rising perpendicularly from said support, a plurality of bases there being a base secured to each letter, each base being constructed to seat in said support, and conductors in said bases, the conductors of one base engaging with the conductors of an adjacent base and being adapted to hold said bases in abutting engagement. n

4. An electric sign comprising a hollow support, rectangular in cross section, a plurality of separately formed letter units, a plurality of bases, one for each letter unit, means for securing each letter unit in a perpendicular position upon its associated base, said base being constructed to seat in said hollow support, and means for illuminating said letters electrically.

5. VAn electric sign comprising a support,

' substantially rectangular in cross section, 'a

plurality of separately formed bases constructed to seat in said support, a plurality of hollow electrically illuminated designs, there being one design rigidly attached to and erected perpendicularly upon each base, and conductors in each base, the conductors of one base engaging with the conductors of an adjacent base and being adapted to hold said bases in abutting engagement.

6. In an electric sign of the class described, a. base of insulating material provided with a-plurality 'of longitudinal channels, conducting members fixed within said channels, a hollow,translucent design erected perpendicularly upon the said base, incandescent laments mounted in the interior of hollow transparent design and means providing electric connections between the 4t plurality of at one end as terminals beyond said bases and provided at the otherend with sockets within said bases, thedterminals of said lbases being 'adapted to interengage ,in the sockets of adjacent bases, and hollow designs disposed perpendicularly upon the respective bases and connected to the conductor strips for illuminating said ydesigns electrically.

9. An electric sign comprising a base of insulating material, pron'ded witha plurality of channels, conductor strips within said channels, eachv base including a removable upper plate, a design erected perpendicularly upon each of said plates, and means for connecting the designs with said conductor strips. n

10. An electric sign comprising a support, a base including an upper horizontal plate, a perpendicularly disposed design erected onsaid plate, a plurality of:electric filaments within said design, a pair' of 'conductor'- strips extending through the base beneath said plate, and means for connecting said filaments and said conductor strips,-

In testimonyl whereof I aix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ADOLPH "i Witnesses:

E..T. SULLIVAN, C. KENNEDY. 

